Shoestring Lock

ABSTRACT

This present invention provides an alternative to tying shoestrings. The current device incorporates a typical shoestring into an attractive configuration. The device not only secures a typical shoestring to hold the shoe in place, it directs the lace into an attractive loop configuration and secures the ends of the shoestring. It&#39;s important that the shoestring is tight enough to secure the shoe to the foot and that the end of the lace is secure to prevent it from tripping the user. This invention accomplishes both and is easy to apply and once in place can quickly and securely tighten and loosen the laces of a shoe for easy and secure, on and off.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to shoes and shoestrings and, moreparticularly, to a shoestring tying, untying and retaining device foruse with any conventionally laced shoe.

2. Description of Related Art

Devices for retaining shoestrings is known in the prior art. Morespecifically, by way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,607 discloses ashoe string retaining device having a connection eyelet forming a flatring connected to a lower retaining tube affixed horizontally. The lowerretaining tube forming a tapered interior sidewall having a lace entryorifice formed at one end and opposite a lace exit and impingementorifice.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,048 discloses a shoestring lock including top andbottom plates that cross and grip the laces as the top plate is rotated180 degrees to the bottom plate and snap locked thereto.

Furthermore, some of the previous inventions have utilized “Cord Locks”adapted to shoestrings but have altered the shoestrings in some way orutilized a specialized shoestring.

The conventional way for tightening shoes onto the foot is to “lace” theshoestring through eyelets in a zigzag manner and tie the ends of theshoe lace into a bow or other type of knot. With this conventional wayfor tightening and loosening shoes, the user needs to tie a knot anduntie a knot whenever they are putting on or taking off the shoes.Moreover, the conventional knot may become loose because there is noshoestring retaining device. Therefore, it is desirable to have a devicethat offers an easier and quicker means of tightening, locking, andloosening the shoestrings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an easy alternative totying/untying shoestrings.

A second object of the present invention is to direct shoestrings intoan attractive loop configuration and secures the ends of the shoestring.

A third object of the present invention is the ability to manipulate thelength of the loop configuration and the ability to utilize longer aswell as shorter shoelaces.

This present invention provides an alternative to tying shoestrings. Thecurrent device incorporates a typical shoestring into an attractiveconfiguration. The device not only secures a typical shoestring to holdthe shoe in place, it directs the lace into an attractive loopconfiguration and secures the ends of the shoestring. It's importantthat the shoestring is tight enough to secure the shoe to the foot andthat the end of the lace is secure to prevent it from tripping the user.This invention accomplishes both and is easy to apply and once in placecan quickly and securely tighten and loosen the laces of a shoe for easyand secure, on and off.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is discloseda shoestring lock which can facilitate tying and untying the shoestringand secure the ends of the shoestrings in place.

The shoestring lock according to the present invention comprises: a bodyhaving a front side, a back side, two lateral sides, a bottom side and atop opening and all the sides together forming an inner cavity, a frontside opening and a back side opening and both the openings are alignedand connected to form a body opening and the body opening has an upperend; a slide having a front side, a back side, two lateral sides, a topside, an underside, a hollowed section on the outer surface of theunderside of the slide, two outward projections each located on thefront and back side respectively for keeping the slide from pushing outof the top of the body, a front side opening and a back side opening andboth the openings are aligned and connected to form a slide opening andthe slide opening has a lower end; and a spring located in the cavity ofthe body and is held in place by the bottom of the body; wherein theslide partially residing inside the cavity of the body with the hollowsection on the underside engaging the top of the spring and moving downand up along a longitudinal axis of the body through the body's topopening when the slide top is pressed or released; and wherein the slideopening and the body opening aligned when the slide top is pressed toallow the shoestring to be fed through and the shoestring is securedbetween the lower end of the slide opening and the upper end of the bodyopening.

The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined inorder that the more detailed description that follows may be betterunderstood and in order that the present contribution to the art maybetter be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will bedescribed hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claimsthat follow.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, itis to be understood that the invention is not limited in its applicationto the details of construction and the arrangements of the componentsset forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings.The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced andcarried out in various ways. For example, instead of a single openingthat would contain and secure the laces, a two opening lace lock couldbe utilized with each opening containing one lace. Another example wouldbe a thin vertical design vs. the present thicker horizontal design.Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of description and should not beregarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception,upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of thepresent invention so that those skilled in the art may better understandthe detailed description of the invention that follows. Additionalfeatures of the invention will be described hereinafter that form thesubject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art shouldappreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception andspecific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying otherstructures for carrying out the same purposes of the present inventionand that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scopeof the invention in its broadest form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more fully apparent from the following detailed description, theappended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elementsare given similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows a front top view of the Shoestring Lock which is attachedto the shoe/shoe laces.

FIG. 2 shows a back top view of the Shoestring Lock attached to theshoe/shoe laces.

FIG. 3 shows the internal mechanism of the shoestring lock.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view showing each individual components of theinternal mechanism of the shoestring lock disassembled.

FIG. 5 shows the secure pad with a non-slide surface under surface.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing expandable ends engaging the outside edgesof the upper body opening.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the shoestring lock with the secure pad inplace.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the shoestring lock with slide top pushed,aligning the openings.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the shoestring lock with an exterior design.

FIG. 10 is a back view of the shoestring lock with an exterior design.

FIG. 11 shows a back top view of the shoestring lock which is attachedto the shoe/shoe laces.

FIG. 12 shows a back top view of the shoestring lock on a shoe where theends of the shoe lace are put under the shoestring.

FIG. 13 shows a back top view of the shoestring lock on a shoe where theends of the shoe lace are tucked into the side pockets.

FIG. 14 shows a back top view of the shoestring lock secured to a shoe(on a person's foot) with the laces tightened.

FIG. 15 is a view showing how to loosen the shoestring by pressing downon the shoestring lock.

FIG. 16 is a view showing the shoestring lock is pushed outwards toloosen the Shoestring.

FIG. 17 is a view showing the shoestring lock secured to a shoe (on aperson's foot) with the laces loose.

FIG. 18 is a view showing how to tighten the shoestring by pressing downon the shoestring lock.

FIG. 19 is a view showing the shoestring lock secured to a shoe (on aperson's foot) with the laces tightened.

FIG. 20 shows an alternate plain design where there is no decorativeouter surface.

FIG. 21 shows lace ends cut off and a knot is tied at the end of eachlace end.

FIG. 22 shows a front view of the alternate plain design secured on ashoe.

FIG. 23 shows a second plain design that eliminates the need to cut andtie the lace ends.

FIG. 24 shows a side view of said design.

FIG. 25 shows the second plain design with the beginning part ofshoelace lock utilization.

FIG. 26 shows an underside view of FIG. 25

FIG. 27 shows and underside view of the lace ends being secured.

FIG. 28 shows the completed sequence of a secured shoelace to the secondplain design.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

This invention presents an alternative to tying shoestrings. The currentdevice incorporates a typical shoestring into an attractiveconfiguration. The device not only secures a typical shoestring to holdthe shoe in place, it directs the lace into an attractive loopconfiguration (that resembles the loops of a traditionally tiedshoestring) and secures the ends of the shoestring. It's important thatthe shoestring is tight enough to secure the shoe to the foot and thatthe end of the lace is secure to prevent it from tripping the user. Thisinvention accomplishes both and is easy to apply and once in place canquickly and securely tighten and loosen the laces of a shoe for easy andsecure, on and off.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is disclosed a front top view and aback top view of a shoestring lock of the present invention (200)attached to the shoe/shoe laces.

FIG. 3 shows the internal mechanism (100) of the shoestring lock (200).FIG. 4 shows each individual components of the internal mechanism (100)of the shoestring lock (200) disassembled. The Slide (1) which sitswithin the Body (2) and is tensioned upward via the Spring (3). SlideRestrictors (4) which are outward projections on each side of the Slide(1) keep the Slide (1) from pushing out of the top of the Body (2).Pushing down on the Slide Top (5) aligns the Slide Opening (6) with theBody Opening (7). Shoestrings can then be fed through the alignedopenings. Releasing the Slide (1) allows the Spring (3) which is held inplace by the bottom of the Body (2) and a hollowed section on the underside of the Slide (1) known as the Slide Bottom Spring Retainer (8) totension the Slide Opening (6) against the upper edge of the Body Opening(7) via the Slide Restrictors (4), which in combination with thenon-slide surface covering 50 of the Slide Bottom (9), will secure theshoestrings to the Shoestring Lock (200).

For extra holding force on the shoestrings, the non-slide surfacecovering (50) with an Upper Secure Pad (10) and a Non-Slide UnderSurface (12) can be added to the upper edge of the Body Opening (7) asshown in FIGS. 5-8. FIG. 5 shows the non-slide surface covering 50. FIG.6 is a side view showing expandable ends (11) engaging the outside edgesof the upper body opening. FIG. 7 is a front view with the non-slidesurface covering 50 in place. FIG. 8 is a front view with slide top (5)pushed, aligning the slide and body openings (6) and (7). The ExpandableEnds (11) engage each outside edge of the upper Body Opening (7) holdingit in place. With the Upper Secure Pad (10) in place, once the laces arefed through the openings and the Spring (3) tension is released, theSlide Bottom (9) will now engage the Non-slide Under Surface (12) of theUpper Secure Pad (10) which will tightly secure the laces.

FIG. 9 shows a front view of the Shoestring Lock with an exterior design200 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows a back view of the Shoestring Lock with the exteriordesign of FIG. 9. The design possibilities are endless, from plain toanimal figures or even sports related (football, basketball, etc.). TheShoestring Lock 200 could incorporate the inner locking mechanism (100)and the exterior design (110) as two entities secured to each other, orthe inner mechanism (100) and the exterior design (110) could be moldedas one. Two alternate plain designs, where there is no decorativeexterior surface, is shown in FIG. 20 and again in FIG. 23

Referring to FIGS. 11-13 for a method to apply the shoestring lock ofthe present invention on the shoestring. To apply to a shoestring, theSlide Top (5) is pressed (aligning the Slide Opening and the BodyOpening) and the lace ends are pushed (from the back) through thealigned openings and one through each of the Frontal Holes (13). Thelace ends are then pushed backward through the Side Holes (14) andthrough the Side Pocket Openings (15), leaving two Forward Loops(16).Next each lace end is threaded (under the laces) into the opposite SidePocket Openings (15) and into the Side Pockets (17) (which hides eachlace end). An alternate design could eliminate the Side Pockets andinstead could use a retaining clip or a pocket on the sides or underside(of the Shoestring Lock) see FIG. 20 and FIG. 23.

FIG. 14 shows the Shoestring Lock (200) secured to a shoe (on a person'sfoot) with the lace tightened. Referring to FIG. 15 for a method toloosen the shoestring once the shoestring lock of the present inventionis secured to the shoe. To loosen the Shoestring Lock (200), simply pushthe Slide Top (5) (which releases the tension between the Slide Opening(6) and the Body Opening (7) or more specifically releases the tensionbetween the Non- slide surface of Slide Bottom (9) and the Non-slideunder surface (12) of the Upper Secure Pad (10)) and slide theShoestring Lock (200) outward (as shown in FIG. 16). FIG. 17 shows theShoestring Lock (200) secured to a shoe (on a person's foot) with thelaces loose.

Referring to FIGS. 18-19 for a method to re-tighten the shoestring afterthe shoestring lock (200) of the present invention is secured to a shoeand the shoestring is loosened. To tighten the laces simply push theSlide Top (5) (releasing the tension between the Slide Opening(6) andthe Body Opening (7)). With the other hand pull the laces through theFrontal Holes (13) until the desired shoestring tightening is obtained,then simply release the tension on the Slide Top (5) which will thentighten/secure the laces/shoe to the foot.

FIG. 20 shows an alternate (plain) design of the shoestring lock (300),where there is no decorative outer surface. As with the other design,The Slide Top (5) is pushed and the shoestrings are directed through theSlide and Body openings. With this design, the lace ends are cut off anda knot is tied at the end of each lace end. Next each lace end is thenslid downward between the top of each Side Tensioner (18) and the Body(2) into the Space of the Side Tensioner (19) (each lace forms a forwardloop). The Side Tensioners (20) hold the ends of the lace to the Body(2). The knot prevents the lace from pulling through the Side Tensioners(17). To eliminate the need to cut and tie a knot this design could havea pocket or retaining clip on the bottom side which would accept,secure, and hide the lace ends (which would eliminate the need forcutting and tying a knot). These alternate designs illustrate theimportance of securing the ends of the laces and that there are numerousways to do so.

FIG. 21 shows lace ends cut off and a knot is tied at the end of eachlace end. FIG. 21 shows the shoestring is secured using the alternative(plain) design of the Shoestring Lock (300) of the present inventionwithout showing a shoe.

FIG. 22 shows the Shoestring Lock (300) secured to a shoe (on a person'sfoot) with the laces tightened.

FIG. 23 shows a second plain design that eliminates the need to cut andtie the lace ends. Retainer 22, Retainer Projection 23 and Guide Hole 21are visible in this view. Conversely, this design would work by tying aknot in each lace behind the guide hole and eliminating the retainer andretainer projection.

FIG. 24 shows a side view of said design. Here the guide hole 21 andretainer 22 is shown as entities attached to the body.

FIG. 25 shows the second plain design with the beginning part ofshoelace lock utilization. Here the slide top is pushed and theshoestring ends are directed through the slide and body openings. Whenthe slide top is released the non slide surface of the slide and the nonslide under side of the secure pad will engage and firmly hold theshoelace. Next forward loops are formed by each lace end being threadedthrough a guide hole. this design eliminates the need to cut and tie theends of the shoelace. Depending on the overall length of the shoelaceand the desired length of the forward loops the amount of lace behindthe guide holes can be manipulated by how it is configured into aretainer.

FIG. 26 shows an underside view of FIG. 25.

FIG. 27 shows and underside view of the lace ends being secured. thelaces cross and each is secured into the far end of a retainer. Iflonger forward loops are desired the lace ends could be secured into thenear end of each retainer. Conversely since the retainers outwardlyproject from the body the lace ends could be wrapped around a retainerbefore being inserted into the retainer using more lace end andeffectively shorten the forward loop. Also, there could be a smallretainer projection in the middle end of each retainer. The retainerprojections come to a graduated apex that would make the retainerslightly smaller than a shoelace end at its apex that would hold thelace end securely within the retainer.

FIG. 28 shows the completed sequence of a secured shoelace to the secondplain design.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out thefundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferredembodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered asillustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended tobe exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described toprovide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and itspractical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art toutilize the invention in various embodiments and with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All suchmodifications and variations are within the scope of the invention asdetermined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance withthe breadth to which they are entitled.

What is claimed is:
 1. A shoestring lock comprising: a body having afront side, a back side, two lateral sides, a bottom side and a topopening and all the sides together forming an inner cavity, a front sideopening and a back side opening and both the openings are aligned andconnected to form a body opening and the body opening has an upper edge;a slide having a front side, a back side, two lateral sides, a top side,an underside, a hollowed section on the outer surface of the undersideof the slide, two outward projections each located on the front and backside respectively for keeping the slide from pushing out of the top ofthe body, a front side opening and a back side opening and both theopenings are aligned and connected to form a slide opening and the slideopening has a lower edge; and a spring located in the cavity of the bodyand is held in place by the bottom of the body; wherein the slidepartially residing inside the cavity of the body with the hollow sectionon the underside engaging the top of the spring and moving down and upalong a longitudinal axis of the body through the body's top openingwhen the slide top is pressed or released; and wherein the slide openingand the body opening aligned when the slide top is pressed to allow theshoestring to be fed through and the shoestring is secured between thelower end of the slide opening and the upper end of the body opening. 2.The shoestring lock of claim 1, further comprising a non-slide surfacecovering which can be added to the upper edge of the body opening toprovide extra holding force wherein the non-slide surface covering beinga U-shaped piece having a horizontal section engaging the upper edge ofthe body opening and two vertical expandable ends engaging each outsideedge of the lateral sides of the body.
 3. The shoestring lock of claim2, further comprising an exterior design placed over the body.
 4. Theshoestring lock of claim 3, wherein the exterior design can be anythingfrom animal figures to sports related items.
 5. The shoestring lock ofclaim 3, wherein the exterior design comprising a front side, back side,bottom side, a hole on the top side allowing the slide top to protrudeout, two frontal holes corresponding to the front side opening of thebody, an opening on the back side corresponding to the back side openingof the body, two side holes on the front side corresponding to two sidepocket openings on the back side, and two side pockets each occupying ahollow space between the side pocket opening and the body.
 6. A methodof applying the shoestring lock and tying and untying shoestrings usingthe shoestring lock, the method comprising: pressing down on the slidetop to align the slide opening with a body's opening; pushing shoestringends from the rear side through the aligned openings one through each ofthe frontal holes; pushing back the lace ends through the side holes andthrough the side pocket openings leaving two forward loops; andthreading each lace end under the laces into the opposite side pocketand into the side pockets hiding each lace end to secure the shoestringlock to a shoe with the laces loose.
 7. The method of claim 6 furthercomprising: pushing down on the slide top to align the slide opening andthe body opening with one hand and pulling the laces through the frontalhole with the other hand until the desired shoestring tightening isobtained; and releasing the slide top which will then tighten/secure thelaces/shoe to the foot.
 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:pushing the slide top and releasing the tension between the slideopening and the body opening with one hand; and sliding the shoestringlock outward with the other hand to untie the shoestring.
 9. Theshoestring lock of claim 1, further comprising a side tensioner on eachof the lateral sides of the body and the top of each side tensionerhaving a loop wherein there is space between the body and the sidetensioner for holding the end of shoestring in place.
 10. A method ofapplying shoestring lock and tying and untying shoestrings using theshoestring lock, the method comprising: pressing down on slide to alignslide opening with body opening; directing the shoestrings through theslide and body openings; tying a knot at the end of each lace end; andsliding each lace end downward between the top of each side tensionerand the body into the space of the side tensioner resulting in each laceforming a forward loop with the side tensioners holding the ends of thelace to the body and the knot preventing the lace from pulling throughthe side tensioners,
 11. The shoestring lock of claim 9, furthercomprising a pocket or retaining clip on the bottom side of the body toaccept, secure, and hide the lace ends thus eliminating the need to tiethe ends of a shoestring into knots.
 12. The shoestring lock of claim10, further comprising a the directing of each shoelace through a guidehole; and then depending on the length of the shoelaces and the desiredlength of the forward loop, the shoelaces are configured and directedinto a retainer and held secure by retainer projections.